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Field · Social Sciences

Social Sciences research

Social Sciences is a field of the Social Sciences. Science Explorer counts 11.1M research works in it since 1950. 18.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: academic disciplines concerned with society and the relationships between individuals in society.

Research works
11.1M
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.1M
per year above
Top-10% rate
18.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
764
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+52%
the tick is no change

What is Social Sciences research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Globalization, Social Media, Human Rights, Education, Educational Technology, Sustainable Development. Gaining share since 2009–13: Character Education, Mobile Learning, Local Wisdom, Pandemic, Indonesia. Losing share: Nationalism, Religion, History, Identity.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Globalization297k▼ 0.79×115 topics
  2. Social Media291k▲ 1.93×26 topics
  3. Human Rights237k◆ 0.97×75 topics
  4. Education207k◆ 0.92×87 topics
  5. Educational Technology177k▲ 2.5×24 topics
  6. Sustainable Development156k▲ 1.30×35 topics
  7. Curriculum Development140k▲ 2.8×16 topics
  8. Online Learning130k▲ 2.1×13 topics
  9. Qualitative Research122k▲ 1.55×26 topics
  10. Social Justice121k◆ 1.00×39 topics
  11. Economic Impact116k▲ 2.6×5 topics
  12. Pandemic116k▲ 11×5 topics
  13. Teacher Training115k▲ 1.59×21 topics
  14. Indonesia115k▲ 8.1×5 topics
  15. COVID-19112k▲ 6.2×9 topics
  16. Nationalism110k▼ 0.53×25 topics
  17. Digital Learning108k▲ 3.8×9 topics
  18. Community Empowerment107k▲ 8.0×11 topics
  19. Public Policy106k◆ 1.01×24 topics
  20. Identity103k▼ 0.61×38 topics
  21. Character Education98k▲ 16×5 topics
  22. Gender96k▼ 0.76×32 topics
  23. Local Wisdom95k▲ 12×6 topics
  24. Cultural Identity95k◆ 1.09×24 topics
  25. Religion94k▼ 0.54×23 topics
  26. Democracy89k▼ 0.73×25 topics
  27. Ethnicity89k◆ 1.10×19 topics
  28. Sustainability83k▲ 1.18×33 topics
  29. STEM Education81k▲ 4.6×8 topics
  30. Pedagogy81k◆ 1.08×22 topics
  31. Economic Development81k◆ 0.88×26 topics
  32. E-Learning81k▲ 1.62×12 topics
  33. Islamic Education80k▲ 5.9×4 topics
  34. History80k▼ 0.55×21 topics
  35. Community Engagement79k▼ 0.79×18 topics
  36. Neoliberalism78k▼ 0.85×25 topics
  37. Migration77k◆ 0.96×28 topics
  38. Media Literacy76k▲ 7.1×3 topics
  39. Mental Health74k▲ 1.27×13 topics
  40. Mobile Learning74k▲ 14×3 topics

Which countries lead Social Sciences research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, the United States, China and the United Kingdom rank highest in Social Sciences. By volume, Indonesia and the United States publish the most (613k and 333k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States · #1 all time 20.4% top 10% · 333k works
  2. 2 China · #7 all time 26.3% top 10% · 113k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #2 all time 26.3% top 10% · 105k works
  4. 4 Indonesia · #6 all time 10.8% top 10% · 613k works
  5. 5 Australia · #3 all time 29.6% top 10% · 47k works
  6. 6 Germany · #4 all time 20.3% top 10% · 85k works
  7. 7 Spain · #8 all time 18.2% top 10% · 66k works
  8. 8 India · #13 all time 16.0% top 10% · 61k works
  9. 9 Türkiye · #15 all time 17.4% top 10% · 70k works
  10. 10 Canada · #5 all time 21.1% top 10% · 49k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 151 countries ranked in Social Sciences. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Social Sciences

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Indonesia 613k works
  2. 2 United States 333k works
  3. 3 Brazil 177k works
  4. 4 China 113k works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 105k works
  6. 6 France 87k works
  7. 7 Germany 85k works
  8. 8 Russia 80k works
  9. 9 Türkiye 70k works
  10. 10 Spain 66k works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

Indonesia: 35.4%United States: 19.3%Brazil: 10.2%China: 6.5%6 others listed: 28.5%35%largest
Indonesia613k · 35.4%United States333k · 19.3%Brazil177k · 10.2%China113k · 6.5%6 others listed493k · 28.5%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Social Sciences research?

University of Oxford (United Kingdom) ranks first in Social Sciences on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by University of Hong Kong and University College London.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of Oxford United Kingdom · Oxford · #1 all time 28.6% top 10% · 4.7k works
  2. 2 University of Hong Kong Hong Kong · Pok Fu Lam · #48 all time 37.9% top 10% · 2.3k works
  3. 3 University College London United Kingdom · London · #3 all time 33.0% top 10% · 4k works
  4. 4 University of Cambridge United Kingdom · Cambridge · #6 all time 25.1% top 10% · 3.8k works
  5. 5 University of Johannesburg South Africa · Johannesburg · #96 all time 31.4% top 10% · 2.9k works
  6. 6 Monash University Australia · Melbourne · #50 all time 35.0% top 10% · 2.5k works
  7. 7 University of Toronto Canada · Toronto · #12 all time 24.7% top 10% · 4.3k works
  8. 8 The University of Melbourne Australia · Melbourne · #46 all time 29.4% top 10% · 3.6k works
  9. 9 University of Oslo Norway · Oslo · #47 all time 37.5% top 10% · 2.1k works
  10. 10 University of Amsterdam Netherlands · Amsterdam · #26 all time 39.0% top 10% · 2.3k works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 6,365 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Social Sciences.

Top 100 Social Sciences institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Institut Agama Islam Negeri BengkuluIndonesia 21k works
  2. 2 Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera UtaraIndonesia 12k works
  3. 3 State University of PadangIndonesia 11k works
  4. 4 Indonesia University of EducationIndonesia 11k works
  5. 5 Weatherford CollegeUnited States 10k works
  6. 6 State University of MalangIndonesia 8.3k works
  7. 7 State University of MakassarIndonesia 7.8k works
  8. 8 Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University YogyakartaIndonesia 7.6k works
  9. 9 Sebelas Maret UniversityIndonesia 7.4k works
  10. 10 Universitas Negeri SurabayaIndonesia 7.3k works

Who are the leading researchers in Social Sciences?

Among the most productive authors in Social Sciences, Pierre Bourdıeu, Michel Foucault and Noam Chomsky rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Pierre Bourdıeu France · #2 worldwide 10k citations · 235 works
  2. 2 Michel Foucault Poland · #5 worldwide 4.6k citations · 194 works
  3. 3 Noam Chomsky United States · #7 worldwide 3.7k citations · 239 works
  4. 4 Charles Tilly United States · #8 worldwide 3.7k citations · 238 works
  5. 5 Norman K. Denzin United States · #16 worldwide 8.6k citations · 169 works
  6. 6 Stanley Hoffmann United States · #21 worldwide 2.3k citations · 197 works
  7. 7 Amartya Sen United States · #28 worldwide 4.9k citations · 190 works
  8. 8 Francis Fukuyama United States · #30 worldwide 4.1k citations · 158 works
  9. 9 William Diebold United States · #33 worldwide 3.8k citations · 208 works
  10. 10 Joseph E. Stiglitz United States · #43 worldwide 7.4k citations · 383 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 2,337 highest-output authors in Social Sciences. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Social Sciences researchers

Where is Social Sciences research done?

The largest centres of Social Sciences research in 2022–2025 are Jakarta (Indonesia), Bandung (Indonesia), Medan (Indonesia) and Surabaya (Indonesia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Demak, Gresik and Sandhurst.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Jakarta Indonesia 60k works
  2. 2 Bandung Indonesia 41k works
  3. 3 Medan Indonesia 39k works
  4. 4 Surabaya Indonesia 35k works
  5. 5 Yogyakarta Indonesia 34k works
  6. 6 Moscow Russia 34k works
  7. 7 Makassar Indonesia 28k works
  8. 8 Paris France 28k works
  9. 9 São Paulo Brazil 28k works
  10. 10 Semarang Indonesia 27k works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Demak148.7 works7.1×
  2. Gresik153.1 works6.8×
  3. SandhurstGB · 23.4 works6.7×
  4. Espírito Santo102.3 works6.4×
  5. Curup370.8 works6.2×
  6. Mojokerto149.3 works6.2×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Social Sciences than the world average.

See Social Sciences on the map

Social Sciences research by country

The best places for Social Sciences research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Social Sciences?

Among universities, judged by research, Institut Agama Islam Negeri Bengkulu, Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University Yogyakarta and Indonesia University of Education score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 13.57%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Institut Agama Islam Negeri Bengkulu: 21k, 11.4%Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University Yogyakarta: 7,595, 12.8%Indonesia University of Education: 11k, 16.4%Sunan Gunung Djati State Islamic University Bandung: 5,004, 13.3%Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera Utara: 12k, 9.2%Yogyakarta State University: 6,060, 17.6%State University of Padang: 11k, 12.1%UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya: 4,430, 11.9%Universitas Islam Negeri Raden Intan Lampung: 4,798, 12.7%Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha: 4,364, 18.3%Indonesia University…Sunan Gunung Djati S…Sunan Kalijaga State…Institut Agama Islam…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 Institut Agama Islam Negeri BengkuluIndonesia 64.711.4%5.7×21,023 +980.3%
2 Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University YogyakartaIndonesia 59.512.8%5.8×7,595 +505.7%
3 Indonesia University of EducationIndonesia 57.616.4%4.2×11,077 +1460.4%
4 Sunan Gunung Djati State Islamic University BandungIndonesia 54.713.3%5.4×5,004 +1161.2%
5 Universitas Islam Negeri Sumatera UtaraIndonesia 54.19.2%4.5×11,997 +2070.8%
6 Yogyakarta State UniversityIndonesia 53.717.6%4.0×6,060 +524.2%
7 State University of PadangIndonesia 53.412.1%4.0×11,267 +928.0%
8 UIN Sunan Ampel SurabayaIndonesia 52.611.9%5.3×4,430 +250.4%
9 Universitas Islam Negeri Raden Intan LampungIndonesia 52.512.7%5.0×4,798 +504.9%
10 Universitas Pendidikan GaneshaIndonesia 51.818.3%4.2×4,364 +1938.7%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Social Sciences research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 52% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Educational Methods and Impacts, Educational Curriculum and Learning Methods and SMEs Development and Digital Marketing.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Educational Methods and Impacts+6404%
  2. Educational Curriculum and Learning Methods+6150%
  3. SMEs Development and Digital Marketing+4097%
  4. Education and Character Development+3772%
  5. Islamic Finance and Communication+2641%
  6. Legal Studies and Policies+1704%
  7. Chinese history and philosophy-72%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Social Sciences include?

SMEs Development and Dig…117kSMEs Development and Digital Marketing: 117k fractional worksChinese history and phil…105kChinese history and philosophy: 105k fractional worksFrench Urban and Social Studies: 101k fractional worksEducation and Character Development: 82k fractional worksAmerican Constitutional Law and Politics: 81k fractional worksLinguistic, Cultural, and Literary Studies: 77k fractional worksDigital Marketing and Social Media: 74k fractional worksLegal and Regulatory Analysis: 69k fractional worksIslamic Finance and Communication: 69k fractional worksOnline and Blended Learning: 68k fractional worksEducation and Critical Thinking Development: 64k fractional worksEducational Curriculum and Learning Methods: 61k fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.